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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25801051">Out of Time</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostflares/pseuds/loveyoutoobits'>loveyoutoobits (lostflares)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Check Please! (Webcomic)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst with a Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Time Travel, panic attacks/mentions of anxiety</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 10:21:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,846</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25801051</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostflares/pseuds/loveyoutoobits</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It's not like Jack wanted to travel 50 years into the future. It's not like Eric suddenly wanted a roommate 50 years out of time. But they only thing they can do is search for an answer of how to send Jack home, and nothing like hope or feelings will stop their mission.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Eric "Bitty" Bittle/Jack Zimmermann</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Check Please Heartbreak Fest 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Out of Time</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaraMcGregor/gifts">MaraMcGregor</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>For MaraMcGregor~<br/>This might not be angsty enough for this type of event but it's an AU I've been toying with for awhile so I'm happy I got the opportunity to finally write it~</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The last thing Jack remembered was sitting at his desk, working on a current events project in the middle of the night. The next thing he knew was the sun shining through the dorm window. He was still at his desk, but things were... different. His newspapers and his paper was gone. In its place was a somewhat messy clutter, a strange object he'd never seen before sitting in the center. Everything Jack would have recognized about this room was gone, save the desk. He didn't even recognize the sheets on the bed.<br/>
<br/>
Moving to the window, he looked out at a Samwell he barely recognized. It was spring the last he remembered. But now, the trees were just beginning to brown, leaves had begun to litter the ground. That removed the idea that he had somehow gotten into the wrong room in an exhausted stupor, but then what did happen?<br/>
<br/>
"Oh!" A quiet voice from the door shocked him, and Jack spun around to be faced by a blonde haired man, who was a head smaller than him. He had a surprised look in his big brown eyes, and Jack wasn't sure what to do. He felt like he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.<br/>
<br/>
"Oh um. Hi. Sorry, I think I might be in the wrong room? But I don't remember how I got here. Could you tell me what room this is?" Jack glanced around at the vaguely familiar room.<br/>
<br/>
"Oh sure! Late night, huh? This is room 115." The man laughed a little, but Jack's blood ran cold. If this was room 115 he hadn't gone to the wrong room accidentally. It wouldn't make sense either if he ended up in a different dorm building either. Jack's mind raced, though he could hear the other man asking him if he was alright, there was nothing Jack could say to make sense of what he was thinking.<br/>
<br/>
If this was his room, than why was none of Jack's stuff here? This couldn't be an elaborate prank, since he hadn't had many friends who could have possibly thought to do that to him. There were too many things that couldn't possibly have been done just for a prank. It also wasn't like he had been in a coma or something like that, since he was still sitting at his desk when he opened his eyes, rather than at some hospital. Plus, he'd never seen the man who'd entered before, so this couldn't even be a dream. He'd exhausted all the probable events, and he was left with the impossible.<br/>
<br/>
The answer would be simple, only one question needed, but Jack was afraid to hear the answer. Hell, he was afraid to ask the question. His whole life would be turned upside down.<br/>
"Hey." Jack croaked out, and the other man stopped his fretting, though his worried look never left his face. "What year is it?"<br/>
<br/>
"Year?" The man looked confused, but something on Jack's face must've made him think Jack was serious because he continued. Jack wasn't sure if hope or desperation or fear was his expression, maybe a mix of all three. "Its 2013, why?"<br/>
<br/>
</p>
<hr/><p><br/>
Eric watched the strange man's expression go from desperation to anguish and he sank to the floor by the window. Something about the year really set him off and Eric was dying to know what. Southern politeness prevented that being the first question out of his mouth, though, and frankly Eric wasn't sure if the man can handle that type of question right now.<br/>
<br/>
"Um... my name is Eric Bittle, but you can call me Bitty if you want? I'm not sure what's going on but I'm happy to be of any help I can." Eric looked around his room but he couldn't think of anything to help the poor man. His eyes landed on the batch of cookies he'd made in the dorm kitchen the night before, where he had been procrastinating writing his paper. "Here, I made these cookies, you should have one."<br/>
<br/>
The man looked up at Eric, looking between his face and the plate in his hand. His sad blue eyes looked on the verge of tears, but the man still reached out and grabbed a cookie, nibbling on it like a rabbit. It was a surprisingly cute act for the very handsome man, but Eric couldn't let himself think of that at the moment. He grabbed a cookie himself, watching as the man calmed down as he ate.<br/>
<br/>
"Thank you... that was very good. My name is Jack Zimmermann..." Jack spoke so quietly that if the room had been any less quiet, Eric would have missed it.<br/>
<br/>
"I'm glad you liked it! These dorm kitchens are always so tricky... I swear they never replace the appliances. That oven might as well have been from the 60s!" Eric was only trying to make conversation to fill the awkward silence, but Jack flinched. There was something strange going on and Eric was dying to ask.<br/>
<br/>
"Um Jack... why'd you ask me what year it was? It's October, the year's almost over."<br/>
<br/>
"You've probably been dying to ask me about that since I suddenly appeared in your room huh. Since this is your room now..." Jack's expression seemed to get even sadder the more he spoke.<br/>
"Only a little bit..."<br/>
<br/>
"If I'm honest with you, I have no idea what's going on. The last thing I remember was sitting at my desk in my dorm room working on a current events paper late at night. Now I'm sitting here in what is clearly your dorm room. The worst part is that year." Jack laughed bitterly.</p><p>"Are you trying to say you traveled through time?"</p><p>"Only a little bit. It's only been 50 years." Any hint of a smile fell off of Jack's face, and he went back to having sad eyes and a despondent look on his face.</p><p>Eric didn't know how to respond. 50 years was a really long time considering the way things had advanced since the 60s. Now he knew why Jack reacted that way to Eric's comment. Eric leaned back on his bed, trying to think about how many things were different from 1963.</p><p>"Oh you know, if you disappeared there might be a news report on it." Eric moved to his desk where his laptop sat. He opened it and turned it on, before moving to google. Jack glanced at him with curiosity, standing to look over his shoulder.</p><p>"Hey, what's this thing? Is it some form of futuristic newspaper?"</p><p>"What? No it's just my laptop... its a mobile computer." Eric wasn't up to date with technology history, but he was pretty sure that at least the concept of computers was around in the 60s.</p><p>"Wow, they made them this small in such a short amount of time?"</p><p>Eric glanced at Jack out of the corner of his eye, trying not to think how Jack's curious face was cute. Instead, he focused on the screen in front of him.</p><p>"Hey so, what day was it when you disappeared? That would narrow down the search results."</p><p>"It was either May 4th, or just after midnight on the 5th in 1963."</p><p>"Oh ok." Eric decided not to mention that May 5th was his birthday, and instead typed into the search for "May 5th 1963 Samwell". The simpler the search term the more likely they'd get their answer afterall.</p><p>The first articles were irrelevant, but they still found the article they were looking for on the first page of results:</p><p><br/>
<strong>SAMWELL STUDENT STILL MISSING</strong>
</p><p>Police are still searching for answers for the disappearance of Jack Zimmermann, 23, who disappeared sometime May 5th, 1963. Initially thought to be a runaway, Samwell University as well as Zimmermann's parents have suggested foul play may be involved. </p><p>A diligent student, when his disappearance was discovered there was still a half-written history paper and research materials scattered on his desk. Initially it was thought that he couldn't handle the pressure anymore of being the son of a hockey legend in Bob Zimmermann, but the Samwell Hockey Team said that he had been an enthusiastic captain and exemplary player--</p><p><br/>
The article continued, ending with a call for any information to be directed at the Samwell police. Of course, there wasn't anything that Eric could do for Jack like this. It was a 50 year cold case, and they wouldn't believe him if they said the man staring over his shoulder was the same Jack mentioned in the article.</p><p>"So, what do you want to do Jack? You've disappeared from your time, and appeared in mine."</p><p>"Is there anything we can do? It's not like I can get back, right? We don't even know how I got here."</p><p>Eric thought about that. Its true that time travel was generally unheard of, and it might be unlikely for Jack to ever make it back to his own time, but it would also be hard to get him used to the world as it is now, since history quickly advanced, leaving Jack in the dust.</p><p>"Why don't we try to find a way to send you back? You might as well stay here in the mean time, I don't have a roommate afterall." Eric gestured to the empty bed on the other side of the room.</p><p>"Do you think it'd be a bad idea for me to learn about what's happened since my time?" Jack was eyeing his laptop again, and Eric almost laughed at the blatant curiosity written all over Jack's face.</p><p>"We're not sure how time travel worked this time, but if we can figure it out there's two outcomes: you remember everything you've learned, or you forget, going back to your life as if nothing happened. Either way, you don't seem like the type of person who would go spilling the future even if you knew." Eric shrugged. "You went to school here so you should know where the library is. There's computers there that you can use for free, as well as a lot of books on the last 50 years. Of course, I'll help you when I can, but I have classes and practice so I can't be around a lot."</p><p>"Practice?"</p><p>"Yeah, I may not look it, but I'm a member of the Samwell Men's Hockey Team." Eric smiled a bit in embarrassment, wondering if Jack would point out how small he was.</p><p>"Hmm so the team still exists? I wonder if there's any proof I was there." Jack stared back at the article on the screen. It was like an obituary, only an afterthought to the possibility of Jack still being alive.</p><p>Proof that Jack had been alive, information to how Jack got here and how to get him back, trying to keep Jack's truth a secret. All that on top of going to class, studying (read: baking) for classes, and going to practice. Not to mention his new roommate happened to be one of the most gorgeous men Eric had ever laid eyes on. It was going to be a tough semester.</p>
<hr/><p><br/>
Jack found it hard to wrap his mind around all the changes in the world. There was the computers, then the cellphones Eric told him about. Everything was faster, but it was overwhelming. Everything he learned about the history he could have lived through seemed like a different life. The Civil Rights movement, going to the moon, all the way to the invention of the internet. He hardly had time to figure out what happened to him, he was spending so much time learning about the history that would have been his future.</p><p>It was giving him a headache. Eric hadn't had any better luck, since he got busy right away with midterms and hockey games. Since they were trying to keep Jack a secret, any research they did was done by just the two of them. They had found proof of Jack in the form of a memorial plaque that had been gathering dust in the storage room. "Gone but not forgotten" seemed like an ironic statement considering the state of the plaque. The photo used looked exactly like he did now, so they thought maybe it was better the plaque wasn't prominent. It made it easier for Jack to get away with hanging around.</p><p>Jack wasn't sure if he wanted to look up what happened to his parents. After 50 years, there was almost no hope that they were still alive. Jack would've been 74 afterall, and his parents hadn't been the youngest when they had him. He decided he'd leave that bit of research to Eric.</p><p>It was impressive how Eric had taken this in stride. Jack was still reeling from the change, but Eric had seriously believed him, and even decided he would find a way to get Jack back to his time. Something about that made Jack afraid. Having hope was a horrible thing, especially if it failed to come true. Eric was giving him hope, as well as a sinking sense of dread.</p><p>"Hey Jack, take a look at this. It may just be a cult article, but what if it holds the answer to sending you back?" Every so often, Eric would turn to him excitedly, with an obscure article found online about time travel. Usually, it led nowhere, but every time it made Jack's heart jump.</p><p>The more they tried to find information, the less they were able to find any. The school library hadn't had any books on time travel, not even obscure ones hidden on the shelves. Eric didn't have the luxury to travel to the town library, and Jack didn't want to travel into a world he didn't recognize alone. In other words, they were already stuck, only a week after starting their research.</p><p>"Eric, I just want to be sure, time travel hasn't been invented in this era, right?"</p><p>"As I've told you before, if time travel had been invented, we would've found the answer already." Eric huffed out a sigh from where he sat at his desk. </p><p>"Sorry it's just... technology has come so far in such a short amount of time, you know?"</p><p>"I wish we could find the answer, I really do." Eric groaned in frustration, turning his chair to face Jack. "You really don't remember anything that happened before you showed up here?"</p><p>Jack wracked his mind, trying to think about the moment he changed times. His memory of it had been hazy at best a week ago, but he was determined to think of something to help himself out. He had been working on his paper, it was late at night... then suddenly it was the afternoon 50 years and 5 months later. He furrowed his brows, trying hard to remember, but it was like trying to remember something that happened to him 50 years ago, rather than only a week ago.</p><p>"Hmm I think I remember the bell tower chiming, but I don't remember the time it chimed. It's like something is preventing me from remembering that night. It's funny, since there is so much from my life I can remember clear as day that shouldn't be as memorable as traveling through time." Jack frowned at his hands. Maybe it really was hopeless.</p><p>"It was a long shot anyways. If only I wasn't so busy with the team! Sure I'm practically useless on the ice until I can get over my checking problem, but it's not like I can suddenly stop going to practice... I'd be kicked off the team." Eric let out another sigh. Jack wondered if Eric wasn't taking too much onto his plate, being a freshman in college while also being on a hockey team, on top of trying to help Jack.</p><p>"Let's shelve the time travel problem for now. Maybe taking a break will do us both good." Jack shook his head. "As much as I want to go back to my own time, nothing good will come of us if we burn ourselves out. Now, tell me about this checking problem."</p><p>"Oh its nothing, really. I just have a problem with contact? There was this thing with peewee football when I was a kid and it really hits me hard... no pun intended."</p><p>"And you chose hockey? How've you gone this long without taking a check?"</p><p>"Well, I started off with figure skating but then an... incident happened, so when we moved to Madison, I had to switch sports. I love the ice, so I switched to hockey. The team I was on was a coed team, so no checking allowed. College is a whole nother world." It was Eric's turn to have a sad look to his face, and it tugged at Jack's heart. Someone so bright as Eric had no right to have as many problems as Jack was giving him.</p><p>"Why don't I help you? In the mornings we can go to Faber--it's still Faber, right?-- and I can help you with your checking phobia. It'd be good to get on the ice again, too."</p><p>"Oh! You don't have to go that far for me. I'm sure I'll get over it someday."</p><p>"It's the least I can do, right? You're trying to help me out afterall."</p><p>"Keyword trying, but sure, why not. We'll have to be careful not to get spotted by the boys, but it can't hurt, can it?"</p><p>Even if Eric said that, Jack could tell that he was reluctant. Eric wasn't a morning person, Jack had come to learn, but Jack was also sure it had nothing to do with that. They both had their own issues to live with, but he had to admit it was better he was able to share at least one of them with Eric.</p>
<hr/><p><br/>
The early morning checking practices Jack had suggested weighed heavy on Eric's already tired mind. He was going to checking practice, to class, to practice, to research, to sleep. It was getting to the point where some of the boys were noticing that something was off. Eric was having a harder time avoiding their questions.</p><p>"Yo Bitty! Where are you always going after practice? You should come to one of the Haus parties one of these days. It's already been a month since the season started." Shitty slung an arm over Eric's shoulder after practice.</p><p>"Oh, well, I have something I have..."</p><p>"Bullshit dude! You can't keep avoiding us like this, we'll get hurt." Adam feigned anguish with Justin holding him up. The tag team from them made it hard to refuse.</p><p>"Is it... alright if I bring a friend then? He's... not from around here and I'd feel bad leaving him alone. He doesn't have many friends here." Eric wasn't even sure if that counted as a lie, considering Jack really wasn't from around this time, and Eric was his only friend.</p><p>"The more the merrier brah! As long as he's not a downer then he can totally come. There's one this Saturday, you know! You can't be the only frog not coming anymore." Shitty finally released his hold, and Eric chuckled a bit uncomfortably. He hoped Jack wouldn't mind.</p><p><br/>
"How would you feel coming to one of the hockey Haus parties? The boys are getting a bit curious to what I've been doing, plus they want me to bond more." Eric wouldn't look at Jack when he got back to the room. He kind of wanted Jack to make friends with the boys, but he also wondered how both sides would feel about the time barrier.</p><p>"Oh there's a hockey Haus now? When I went the only reason I was still in the dorms as a junior was because that was the only option. I think I'd like to see it." Jack sounded a bit happy, and Eric glanced over to see a small smile play across his face.</p><p>"You sure? What if they ask questions, or find out who you really are?"</p><p>"What's the worst that could happen? 'Oh your name is the same as this kid who went missing 50 years ago'? If that happens I can just say its a funny coincidence."</p><p>"That's true I guess." Eric smiled back, but he was worried they'd have to tell the boys about the situation sooner rather than later.</p><p>Saturday came sooner than Eric wanted, and the time for the party arrived earlier than expected, leading Jack and Eric standing outside the Haus, wondering what they were supposed to do.</p><p>The answer was handed to them in the form of a Shitty bomb. "Bitty! You made it man! Is this your friend? Come inside already, its not like the Haus will bite."</p><p>They were pulled unceremoniously into the living room of the Haus, which had already been packed with Samwell students. It seemed like a normal frat party to Eric, but he kept shooting glances at Jack, who seemed more than a little overwhelmed. The blaring music and the shifting lights seemed to be hitting the culture shocked Jack hard.</p><p>"Hey Jack, why don't I get us something to drink? Will you be fine here on your own?" Eric spoke so that Jack could hear him, and the taller man leaned down to hear him better.</p><p>"Y-yeah, I should be fine. I think I just need to get used to... this." He gestured to the room, and Eric laughed a little. It was kind of amusing to see someone not used to it experience the crazy of a frat party for the first time, though its not like Eric was so experienced himself.</p><p>Eric managed to find the tub juice and poured a couple cups. He wound through the maze of people before come back to Jack, who had been ambushed by Adam and Justin.</p><p>"You know, you look a bit familiar." Those words stopped Eric in his tracks. Adam was squinting at Jack's face, which had a look of panic rising on it.</p><p>"You said your name was Jack right? Jack what?" Justin joined in the squinting, and Eric knew that he had to stop this. In his research into Jack's dad, Adam and Justin had been the most shocked that Eric had never heard of the Montreal Great Bad Bob Zimmermann. Luckily they were too flabbergasted by that to question why he wanted to know about him. But if they were into Bad Bob enough, there might be no way they haven't heard of the fate of Jack Zimmermann.</p><p>Jack for his part looked like he was desperate to escape. He spotted Eric some distance away, a pleading look on his face. Eric tried to get over faster, sidestepping around drunk college students before he was only a small distance away.</p><p>"Jack! There you are. Man who knew frat parties were this chaotic haha." Eric knew his laugh was strained, and the looks from Adam and Justin proved he was less than convincing, but it would be bad if their secret was revealed here.</p><p>"Hey Bitty! Did you ever notice that your friend here looks like someone famous? I can't quite put my finger on who though. Maybe if I could see his face in better light..." Adam rubbed his chin, sticking his face right up into Jack's, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but in a better light.</p><p>"Oh I doubt it! He's Canadian afterall, I doubt he looks like anyone too famous."</p><p>"Oh I'm Canadian too! I'm from Toronto, what about you, Jack?" Justin stared at Jack from the other side, effectively blocking Jack into a man made corner.</p><p>"M-Montreal..." Jack stuttered out, and Justin nodded as if it put the pieces together.</p><p>"Wait! I know who you look like! Bitty even asked about him the other day." Adam snapped his fingers, and Eric's heart dropped. Either he found a way to rescue Jack or he let their secret get exposed. If Eric was honest, he'd been thinking it was time they asked for help. "You look like Bad Bob Zimmermann! He was from Montreal too... are you related to him or something? I feel like there's another way you look familiar but you definitely look like Bad Bob."</p><p>Jack looked over to Eric. It was now or never. He gave a nod, and Jack sighed, though he still had a look of panic on his face. "Euh... what if I told you my last name is Zimmermann too, and that I am related to Bad Bob Zimmermann?"</p><p>"Dude I was right!" Adam smiled his big smile, but it fell into a pensive frown just as quickly. "But wait, I don't think Bad Bob had any siblings, and you look too much like him to be a cousin's kid."</p><p>"Well there was his son, but didn't he go missing 50 years ago?" Justin chimed in, and Eric wondered just how many more seconds it would take for them to catch on.</p><p>"Wait... Wasn't his name--"<br/>
"Oh yeah that memorial plaque Lardo found in the storage room had a photo--" Adam and Justin seemed to be catching on fast, but it was taking too long.</p><p>"This is Jack Zimmermann... Bad Bob Zimmermann's son." Eric blurted out. Luckily only the 4 of them could hear them, but it still felt like he'd revealed the secret to the whole world with the way Adam and Justin reacted.</p>
<hr/><p><br/>
Jack had never been more uncomfortable in his life. After his secret was revealed to Adam and Justin (as he came to learn their names), They dragged him and Eric up to the attic. Adam was pacing, every so often to look at Jack as if he wanted to say something, before returning to pacing. Justin had pulled out his laptop and was typing away furiously, muttering under his breath. Jack and Eric were sitting at the desks, watching the pair freak out over time travel.</p><p>"Wait so you're telling me that Jack just... just up and appeared in your dorm room a couple weeks ago? You know how crazy that sounds considering he went missing 50 years ago, right?" Adam was yelling. Luckily the frat party was still ongoing downstairs, making sure that any discussion remained between the four of them.</p><p>"Well... that's the gist of it. We've been trying to find out why this happened and how to get Jack back to his time."</p><p>"If you are able to send him back, that would cause changes to time, you know." Justin kept typing away, and Jack wondered what he was doing. "There's several possible outcomes afterall. Have you thought of them all?"</p><p>Jack hadn't thought about any outcome other than being able to go home. Eric bit his lip before nodding.</p><p>"If we are able to send Jack home, certain events in time will either never have happened or will come to pass. If Jack is able to go back to the exact time he had disappeared, then the disappearance obviously never would have happened. Any events stemming from his disappearance would never have happened." Eric ticked it off on his fingers, listing all possible scenarios he had thought of. Jack couldn't even begin to think of the consequences of sending him back. There were so many more than he thought.</p><p>As much as he had tried to keep his hope quelled, just knowing how much he could screw up history managed to crush it. It was like the butterfly effect, where a flap of a butterfly's wings could cause a hurricane halfway around the world. But in this case, Jack was the butterfly, his disappearance the starting force, the history of the world the hurricane. Sending him back in time could mean destroying the world as Eric and the rest knew it. To Jack it was just a foreign time, but to the people he was meeting it was the only time they ever knew.</p><p>Time travel was tricky, and this was setting off his anxiety. It was getting harder to breathe, just listening to Eric and Justin discuss possible outcomes with Adam chiming in with some other plausible possibility.</p><p>"--Jack, are you alright?" Eric was suddenly in his face, concern written across it. Jack became aware that he was shaking, and he grasped at his arms, drawing himself in, trying to quell the panic that was threatening to make him sick.</p><p>"I didn't think about the consequences. What would happen if we were able to send me back? The only thing I had thought of was going back to my life, being able to see my family again. But maybe it'd be better if I never went back at all. Maybe I was always supposed to disappear." Jack stood up abruptly. "I'm going to go back. Sorry Eric."</p><p>Jack wasn't sure how he managed to make it back to the dorm room. All he remembered was slinking into the empty bed in Eric's room, and wishing for the first time in awhile that when he woke up in the morning it would have all been a dream.</p>
<hr/><p><br/>
November came and went. Eric's routine went on as normal, checking practice with Jack, class, practice. The only difference is that Jack had asked them to shelve the research for a bit longer. After Jack's panic, Eric was all for agreeing. Secretly though, he still searched, this time with the help of Adam and Justin. The three of them weren't having any better luck than he and Jack had had earlier. Eric wasn't one to throw in the towel, but it was beginning to look hopeless. Though he'd never tell Jack that.</p><p>He could tell Jack still had some hope in him. Every so often Jack would come back to the library excited about some part of recent history he hadn't been able to live through. Eric could tell that sometimes he wanted to say about how if he had been there. If only he had been there. What would he have done, where would he have gone, who he would have been with. These were the unspoken questions that pushed at Eric. What would Jack have done if he had been there for it?</p><p>Mentally, Eric was exhausted. He'd never studied for anything this hard or this long, but he felt he couldn't abandon Jack. There was something that kept tugging at Eric, keeping him trying, even if Jack had put on the face of having given up. The melancholy in the room was weighing heavy on Eric, and he wanted to have things solved before he went home for winter break in a month. He couldn't just leave Jack alone.</p><p>Eric sat at his desk, working on homework, every so often glancing over at Jack. The man's permanently sad eyes set Eric off, and he couldn't take it anymore. "Hey Jack. Ransom and Holster said--oh that's Justin and Adam-- they said any time I want to bake that I could head over to the Haus, and it's been a long time since I've baked anything since meeting you. It goes against my character to not bake a pie every once in awhile, you know? Why don't you join me? I can teach you how to make an apple pie."</p><p>Jack looked over at him, but Eric could already tell there was a glimmer of interest there. "Anything new is better than wallowing here in misery. What do we need to get?"</p><p>One shopping trip later, Jack and Eric showed up at the Haus, an enthusiastic Shitty ushering them in. "Yo Bitty! And Jack! What brings you here?"</p><p>After a short explanation, Shitty left them to it, making them swear they'd save him a slice or two.</p><p>"So this is why you bought enough to feed an army."</p><p>"What can I say, my pies are good." Eric shrugged, before getting down to business. He and Jack moved around the kitchen in almost harmony, Eric teaching Jack how to make the pie at the same time making two or three at once. Jack would comment how he was ruining Eric's pie every so often, but Eric would always tut at him, telling him that there was no way he could ruin a pie.</p><p>"No Eric, I swear this pie is going to turn out ugly."</p><p>"It doesn't have to look good as long as it tastes good." Eric was starting his fourth pie, facing away from Jack.</p><p>"Well look at this! I wasn't made for lattice work see--" Jack turned to show Eric the pie just as Eric turned to grab the butter, and they bumped into each other, a cloud of flour rising up. It was enough to make Eric giggle, and Jack joined in.</p><p>The sunlight filtering through the kitchen windows lit up Jack's smile, the usually sad eyes crinkled in laughter. The flower had gotten onto Jack's black hair and shirt, and something about the way he looked made Eric's heart skip a beat.</p><p>The more time he spent with Jack, the more he spent looking for a way to send Jack home, the more he found no answers, the harder it got to deny what Eric was afraid to admit. He was beginning to fall in love with Jack. Jack, who was a man out of time, but even worse, Jack who was straight.</p>
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Eric seemed to both perk up and deflate after their baking session. They managed to make five pies in one sitting, which definitely helped Eric's mood, but to Jack there seemed to be a wall built up between them, a wall he didn't understand. Eric wasn't avoiding him, but there certainly seemed to be a cautious approach to interactions between the two of them.</p><p>Every so often Jack thought he should ask about it, but Eric didn't seem like the person who would tell him if her were to ask. Jack wasn't entirely sure why, but it stung to think Eric was avoiding him even if they spent just as much time together as before. Sometimes it felt like it was a cruel fate that it had been Eric who's room he had found himself in. Other times, a blessing in disguise.</p><p>November ended uneventfully, though he and Eric went to Hausgiving. Nobody seemed to question Jack's existence, despite him not being on the team. Maybe Eric had given some sort of explanation to the ones who didn't know. Maybe this hockey team was just so much friendlier than any team he had ever been a part of at Samwell. Adam and Justin had tried to ask him how the search was going, but it was hard to get alone, so he could only shake his head in response.</p><p>Eric had less time to hang out with Jack with finals fast approaching, but maybe some actual distance would help with whatever had strained their relationship. He spent more time in the library to let Eric have more time to study, but Jack had pretty much exhausted his research into the last 50 years. There were a few things he was too afraid to look up, but they all happened to be about himself, and all that there was left to look up, if he was honest.</p><p>He sat at the computer he always used, staring at the google logo. He knew what he should look up, but the answer terrified him more than being unable to go home. 50 years had passed, so what had happened to his parents?</p><p>He had been in 2013 for two months. For two months, Jack made sure to keep his searches away from the personal side of hockey. He'd research world events, and then events in hockey, such as who won the Stanley Cup in what year. But that was the extent of his research. He might have looked up a friend or two to see how their careers had progressed, but he couldn't bear to look up the fate of his hockey legend father.</p><p>Now, though, he thought he was ready to know the answer. He had done the math, had come to terms with the knowledge that his dad and mom would have to be over 100 now. Typing in Bob Zimmermann to the search bar pulled up a picture of his parents in the sidebar. It had been taken some years after his disappearance, he could tell, because his father's hair was a bit greyer than it had been, and that neither of them were smiling. He remembered them as a happy, always smiling couple, a love to look up to. His disappearance must have really broken their hearts.</p><p>His father's wikipedia page had an entire section on Jack's disappearance. It preceded the "Health Complications and Death" section. Even though he knew it was coming, the knowledge that his father was dead hit him like a ton of bricks. He could only assume his mother had the same. A trip to her page confirmed it.</p><p>He sat there, staring at the screen for awhile. He felt emptier than he thought he would, even though he knew that 50 years would be a long time for his parents, even if for himself it had only been two months since he last had the opportunity to see them. The one thing he'd regret if they couldn't find how to send him back was never being able to see his parents again.</p><p>He felt guilty, because as much as he'd regret it, he was beginning to love the world he had been thrust into.</p>
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Eric didn't want to give up. Finals were fast approaching, meaning winter break was just around the corner. He didn't want leave Jack alone on campus without having tried his hardest to send him home, but things were looking rough. Justin and Adam had exhausted all their searches, and Eric wasn't finding anything new. He felt like Jack had already given up. He had come back from the library one day, despondent, only explaining that he had finally looked up his parents. Eric had wanted to go over and give him a hug, but he held back.</p><p>The wall he had forced between the two of them was getting harder to maintain. It felt like everyday he wanted to tear it down and tell Jack he loved him, begging him to want to stay. But he couldn't ask Jack to abandon hope. Jack was a fish out of water. He may have been a fast learner, but there will always be things he isn't used to, can't get used to, won't get used to. Eric wasn't sure if he could always be by Jack's side. Rather, he shouldn't always be Jack's side. </p><p>Anytime they hang out with the hockey team, Shitty wondered why Jack didn't join the team. The team had found out about the checking practice, which means they had found out that Jack had played hockey at least enough to be somewhat good at it. Jack, Eric, Adam, and Justin had sweat bullets until Jack mumbled out an excuse of a hockey injury keeping him from playing more seriously. It was easy enough to buy, and Jack's despondent look was fitting enough, though Eric knew its meaning was completely different.</p><p>Jack's melancholy over hockey had two sources. One was obviously his father, but the other was that Jack hadn't had a chance to play more. Eric felt that he was just a constant reminder of the team Jack never could have again if they couldn't find a way. Jack insisted he study for finals instead of trying to find the way home, but Eric couldn't give up.</p><p>It broke his heart but he couldn't give up. Jack deserved to be happy in the time he was supposed to live in, not be stuck in a time where there was no one left for him. Eric steeled his nerves and kept searching, even as Jack kept to himself, no longer studying recent history.</p><p>Eric knew that Jack had given up. It was written all over Jack's face each time Eric came back from a trip to the library after a failed research trip. He didn't want to tell Eric to stop. He probably knew that he wouldn't. There was a level of obsession that Eric had reached, but he didn't know how to let Jack down when Jack had already stopped having hope.</p><p>Eric wasn't sure how he managed to answer his finals. He wasn't entirely sure he didn't just scribble information about time travel across his tests. He was angry at himself for having let Jack down. He'd known for a month now that he'd let Jack down but he had been in denial. Now he was packing to go home for winter break, not sure what else to do. His parents expected him to come home, and it was too late to ask if Jack could come along. Jack had already said he was fine staying in the dorm, but Eric wasn't too sure he was happy with that outcome either.</p><p>"Eric, you should stop moping. Your suitcase right now is full of shirts with no other clothing in sight." Jack laughed from where he had been watching from the other bed. </p><p>"You're too carefree." Eric muttered to himself. He wondered if Jack was just hiding behind this facade, but somehow it just seemed too honest.</p><p>"I'm telling you, Eric. I'm fine with staying here." Jack tilted his head. 'Here' tugged at Eric's heart. He had to tell himself that 'here' meant the dorm, and not 'in this time'.</p><p>"You shouldn't have to be alone over the holidays."</p><p>"You'll be back soon enough. You have a game just after new years, right?"</p><p>Eric froze. New years was fast approaching, only a couple weeks away, and the year would become 2014. 51 years since Jack's time. "I'm so sorry Jack. I'm so sorry I haven't been able to send you home."</p><p>The tears came before he could stop them, and for once Eric wasn't sure if he wanted them to stop. He swiped uselessly at his eyes, knowing that this was a culmination of all the frustration and guilt he had been feeling since Jack showed up. Jack let him cry, a strange look of guilt on his own face.</p>
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Jack spent the two weeks Eric was gone wishing that he had asked to gowith Eric. He never really felt lonely when Eric was in class or at practice. He knew he'd be seeing him later on anyways, so he could enjoy his time at the library or wandering around campus. With winter, walks around campus weren't something he could do, and though he jogged it wasn't enough to keep his mind occupied. Jack wasn't the only student who didn't or couldn't go home, so some general buildings remained open, but Jack had only been hanging out with Eric or the others on the hockey team.</p><p>He was surprised he felt lonely. It's not like he couldn't go out and make a friend, though his anxiety had a pretty large say in that, but he missed Eric more than anything. the younger man had been trying his hardest for him, and Jack appreciated that more than Eric knew. He thought that maybe it was time to tell him the truth, that he was fine even if he didn't go home. </p><p>Eric's tears before he left still sat heavy on Jack's shoulders. They were tears for him, and tears he definitely didn't deserve. Whatever the universe had decided to do with Jack, he had been thrust into Eric's life, upending it just as much as Jack's.</p><p>Jack realized how important Eric had become to him. If Jack hadn't met him he would've had to go through this pain of 50 years alone. The more Jack thought about it, the more he realized that it might not be the world that he was in love with. That was why he was fine with staying. Not because 50 years of history and innovation had passed so that the world they were in was a bit of a better place that it had been. But because of him. Because of Eric.</p>
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Eric returned to campus with apprehension. He had done some more research while in Madison, and though he had expected to find nothing, he was still disappointed that that had truly come to pass. It was now January. Jack had been out of his time for 3 months. And there were still no answers.</p><p>He entered their dorm room. Jack was sitting on his bed, reading a book. He glanced up when Eric entered the room, catching his eye. He smiled and set his book down. "Eric! Welcome back, how was your break?"</p><p>Eric's wall was crumbling. He could feel his bottom lip quivering, but this time he forced the tears away, instead forcing a smile. "Uneventful, how about yours?"</p><p>"The same."</p><p>The silence between them stretched on, and Eric turned to start unpacking. He couldn't think of anything to say, and he assumed Jack was in the same boat. Jack cleared his throat, and Eric glanced his way. He had such a serious expression, that Eric stopped what he was doing.</p><p>"Eric, we should talk." Jack's expression sent a shiver down Eric's spine, his piercing blue eyes determined rather than the previous sad. "I think it's ok now."</p><p>"It's ok now?" Eric knew what he meant, but he wanted to play dumb just a little longer.</p><p>"You can stop searching for a way to send me home. I'm fine with staying here."</p><p>"But Jack! What about your family, the life you could have had? The family you could have had?"</p><p>"I would be lying if I said I don't regret not being able to see my parents again, but there's nothing stopping me from having a life and family here. I want you to know that this isn't me giving up, you gave me hope and no matter what, even if we didn't find the truth, I am forever grateful that you gave me that hope. This world I've found myself in, everything is so foreign, I still haven't got used to everything, but I want to. I want to stay here."</p><p>"But--"</p><p>"And I want to stay here, with you." Jack stood up and approached where Eric stood. Eric hadn't noticed the tears that started to fall, though he didn't care. The implication in Jack's voice had him captivated by Jack's movement. They met in the middle of the room, that had once been Jack's 50 years ago and is now Eric's, and Jack reached out a hand to wipe away the tears falling on Eric's face.</p><p>"Eric, please let me stay with you."</p><p>"The truth is I didn't want you to go." The words had only barely passed Eric's lips when they were quieted by Jack's lips.</p><p>The kiss was soft, sweet, and stopped time in its tracks. Nothing mattered except the two of them. And maybe that was all that they would ever need.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for reading, leave a kudos and a comment~</p></blockquote></div></div>
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